Found these in my back yard today. I'm dehydrating them for later eating, but doubt that I'll eat any myself, as I usually have a nip or two of bourbon just about every day. :-) https://drive.google.com/file/d/10nAn8r5CGv1eMere1c9sTrcvGlQIUk67/view?usp=sharing If anyone else has collected these before and tried them I'd appreciate hearing from you. Bruce

I've found that freezing them raw works just about as well as anything...but you're right...they're okay but not the same after thawing. Bruce

I can't speak to Daviess County, but here in Hendricks, we haven't had any rain to speak of for more than six weeks. No rain, no mushrooms. Bruce

Nothing here. In fact, no rain in more than five weeks. If that doesn't change soon, I can't imagine that we will, either. I went hiking just yesterday, and carried a collection bag, in the vain hope that I might encounter something. The only mushrooms of any kind that I witnessed were artist's conk (Ganoderma sp). But in my mind's eye, I had visions of already-pinned mycelia lurking underground, just waiting for a soaking. Bruce

I suspect so. It's that time of year. Bruce

Agreed, not chanterelles. Could be honey mushrooms. Are they growing from soil, or buried wood? Have you taken a spore print? Bruce

I'm jealous!

Looks like a Berkeley's Polypore to me. Bruce

Ah, the mysterious wire fungus...bane of electricians everywhere! Seriously, I don't recognize it for sure. I'm guessing a Berkeley's Polypore well past its prime. A shot of the underside would help, as would information on what exactly what substrate it was collected from. Bruce

On first glance they look like oyster mushrooms, but lacking a photo of the underside there is no way to be sure. Bruce

Yep, chanterelles kinda got a late start but are now doing pretty well. I got about 5 pounds on a hike in a state forest last week. I probably could have collected 10x that, but I didn't want to tote them around for six miles. Besides, sometimes "enough is enough." Meadow mushrooms are also starting to pop up. Here's a photo of what I collected a half-hour ago from my own front yard. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hlqa4fMefi1IJjOnwG-obzYdk_CWlt7V/view?usp=sharing Regards, Bruce

Boy, that sure looks like a green-spored lepiota to me. If the spore print was not green, what color was it? Parasols are not common in Indiana. They also are difficult to identify for certain, and are not an entry-level mushroom. I doubt that this one is a true parasol, as it lacks the variegated stem. But it could be. Get some reference books, and work from there. I highly recommend this one for starters. You should start with oysters and chanterelles and chicken-of-the-woods and stuff like that. Counting on others to identify mushrooms for you is risky. If YOU are not sure, don't eat it. Hope this helps, Bruce

We cannot even begin to ID something for you without looking at it. I will say that "umbrella out with tiny bumps and scales" does not sound very much like a puffball. Regards, Bruce

We seem to get a few galls on our cedar trees every year. I rarely catch them fruiting, though. Bruce

This cup mushroom is not familiar to me. ID help please? https://drive.google.com/open?id=16XdrPQ3ikGYGj7p0-3nvX8qvWCTKoV7I It appears to be growing up from the roots of a dogwood tree whose stump I burned out last year. If you watch them carefully you'll see little puffs of white spores coming out periodically. Pretty cool. Bruce P.S. The "Indiana Mushroom Species" section of this web site is not working anymore.

Looks pretty similar. I never did get a positive ID, but I think DHuntington is probably on the right track (Peziza phyllogena). Bruce

I grew up in Butler, IN, if you know where that is. When it comes to edibles, pheasant backs and morels are about all you'll find this time of year. Mushroom season really starts in July. While you're waiting, try out some books. For a true neophyte, you can't go wrong with "Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States" (https://www.amazon.com/Edible-Mushrooms-Illinois-Surrounding-Kitchen-ebook/dp/B00AJA0ZFG). Bruce

Thanks Steve! And here I could have eaten it all along. :-) Hopefully a few more will pop up at this same location this fall. Regards, Bruce

Remarkably enough, some mushrooms are coming up in January in central Indiana. Here are a couple I found this afternoon growing in blue spruce needle duff. If anyone could ID, I would be grateful. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qLR48UGZWEh6Vu7UhYK1g9KY26SbZraO Bruce

Before I can even venture a guess, must have a photo of the underside. Bruce

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyromitrin

Good resources I've found for this include http://www.mushroomvideos.com/ and https://fungi.com/. Be sure to get your free catalog from Fungi Perfecti...it contains useful information. Perhaps the best book on the subject is The Mushroom Cultivator by Paul Stamets, available for $35 at fungi.com. HTH, Bruce

Well, here's the spore print: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YgSEC73dZUZolUO9i6l3Qnv3TUnMTBA8 Kinda buff- or cream-colored, and not very dark at all. Along with the robust stem and notched gill attachment, I'm currently leaning towards a Wood Blewit (Lepista nuda). Could be wishful thinking on my part. Bruce

I'm certainly willing to do that, but in the past times you've suggested that to me, you never gave me your mailing address. Getting a spore print at the moment. Bruce

I took advantage of warm weather last Sunday (64 degrees in Ellettsville/Spencer) to do some late-season hiking and collect a limited supply of the Indiana mycophagist's last refuge -- the Pear-Shaped Puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme). See https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Tay4HOhiLx0MtCDYLItl4LvyCPfidZgU Despite all my efforts in the field, I still had to meticulously tear each little mushroom in half and throw away about a third of the ones that were showing signs of sporulating. Not sure what I'll do with them yet, but I ought to do something special. Bruce